moving to Keansburg (Union, Long Branch, Asbury Park: best town, how much, houses)

[emilykeene]

My family and I are planning to move to Keansburg at the end of the summer. We're looking for inexpensive housing ( single family homes under $160,000 ) and any relocation information anyone may have. We know that Keansburg is not 100% safe - are some areas better than others? We have spent some time in the area every summer for the past five years, and finally decided that we wanted to come there to stay!

[Rapture]

Hello,

I live in Monmouth County and I'm very familiar with Keansburg, that being said I strongly suggest visiting there first. You said you have spent some time in the area, have you actually been to Keansburg? I don't want to insult anyone here but it's not the best town in the area. There are some parts that aren't too bad...they call it N. Middletown and I have a few friends that live there. As far as your price range, I don't know what you would find for that price but I will say I was looking less than a year ago for another house in the area, say from Cliffwood to Highlands and every town in between and there were no houses even close to that. The houses I was looking at were around 325,000 to 350,000 and they were all shacks with taxes of 6,000 and up a year. Houses around here have gone down a little in the last six months but not that much. Keansburg is definatley the least expensive town in the area but there are many reasons why.

[pattiv]

I STRONGLY suggest you reconsider that area.
I live in Monmouth county and am familiar with Keansburg
Rapture is correct in everything he says.

The other bad news is I just did a search for a young couple looking for a SFH
There is nothing in that price range in that area unless its falling down.
Most of the shacks are at 300k-to 350k still.
I do not know the area you will be working, but you may want to try south Jersey around sicklersville.

[emilykeene]

Thanks for the reply to my inquiry. We have visited Keansburg, and liked it. We are extremely eccentric and feel most comfortable in areas where the income level is low, and where the population is diverse. That said, we do not want to live somewhere extremely unsafe, but we are also quite happy in a house that is very strange or has some problems. We looked online, and there were quite a few listings from a realtor in Keansburg within our price range. We don't want a "nice" house - we want something serviceable but without a lot of neighborhood regulations. We want to be able to put up ham radio and TV antennas, etc. without upsetting the neighbors or breaking some sort of housing code.

[jackie8689]

I lived in Monmouth County my whole life and moved to PA about 4 years ago. I still have family in the area and visit often. I grew up in Rumson for 30 years, lived in Red Bank for 10. In all the years I lived there, Keansburg was always considered as having "cooties" or something. For people who have lived in the area for quite awhile, Keansburg has always had the stigma of being on the "wrong side of the tracks"

It sounds like you have made up your mind to the area and best of luck to you. To me, now, so many people have come and gone in the area that it's really hard to know what areas are considered "bad" anymore. My opinion is that Keansburg is just another shore town that is still considered "affordable" Personally, I wouldn't pay the prices anywhere in NJ. Especially when I knew what some of these house went for years ago. Highlands, Atlantic Highlands, Leonardo, Cliffwood Beach, Keyport were considered the "clam digger" towns back in the day. Even Asbury Park and Long Branch used to be thee places to go. Red Bank was dead for years before that revitalization. Even Rumson was such a sleepy town but it's become McMansion heaven. It's awful and painful for me to see it that way now. Call me an old timer and change is usually good, but how much building and tearing down should be allowed? The whole scape of that town is different and although very lovely, it's too overbuilt. Who needs that much space, anyway?

[Summer16]

I live in a town close by to Keansburg, and I would recommend against moving there, as others have also stated.

[dch]

Don't know if anyone is still reading this site, but ouch... I live in East Keansburg, both area are very much alike. I have lived here for 12 years and have never been mugged or felt intimitated, I have never had anyone offer to sell me drugs. If you want eccentric,this is the place. the people here are wonderful and all kinds and types are people are here;just like in a big city, this is most certainly not the suburbs.

[exhdo1]

Originally Posted by emilykeene

My family and I are planning to move to Keansburg at the end of the summer. We're looking for inexpensive housing ( single family homes under $160,000 ) and any relocation information anyone may have. We know that Keansburg is not 100% safe - are some areas better than others? We have spent some time in the area every summer for the past five years, and finally decided that we wanted to come there to stay!

I have friends that live in Keansburg. All of them are hard working honest people. Keansburg is like many other shore towns in the area i.e. Keyport, Union Beach, Belford etc. Years ago these towns were largely summer towns. With the building of the Garden State Parkway the focus of these towns being vacation spots dwindled as people opted to go further south to vacation. The area was pretty run down for quite a few years but has recently been on a bit of an upswing. With people moving in from New York the area will change. The ferry services to New York has helped the area. A few years ago the area almost got the shot in the arm it needed when Trump was looking into redevelopment of the water front. Unfortunatly it never happened. Remember there is only so much waterfront property available and with that the area is prime for rebound. Good Luck! P.S. Cervinos Restaurant on Union Avenue in Union Beach is consistently rated one of the top Italian restaurants in Monmouth County, give it a try you'll love it!

[NC little foot]

Originally Posted by Rapture

Hello,

I live in Monmouth County and I'm very familiar with Keansburg, that being said I strongly suggest visiting there first. You said you have spent some time in the area, have you actually been to Keansburg? I don't want to insult anyone here but it's not the best town in the area. There are some parts that aren't too bad...they call it N. Middletown and I have a few friends that live there. As far as your price range, I don't know what you would find for that price but I will say I was looking less than a year ago for another house in the area, say from Cliffwood to Highlands and every town in between and there were no houses even close to that. The houses I was looking at were around 325,000 to 350,000 and they were all shacks with taxes of 6,000 and up a year. Houses around here have gone down a little in the last six months but not that much. Keansburg is definatley the least expensive town in the area but there are many reasons why.

I totally agree with Rapture on this.

[emilykeene]

We have now moved to an area formerly part of Keansburg, but currently designated "Middletown". We love it so far!